Brown Shoe Offers Women Style, Comfort, Sustainability With Naya(R) Footwear

ST. LOUIS, March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE: BWS, www.brownshoe.com) blends beautiful design, premium comfort and eco-friendly materials with the global introduction of Naya® women's footwear.

"From talking to consumers we know that, now more than ever, people are making purchasing decisions, including fashion and footwear, to enhance their well-being and the well-being of our planet.  We also know that style and comfort are key attributes women demand from their shoes.  Naya was created as a feminine footwear collection with premium comfort features, and including eco-conscious design elements enables women to feel as good about buying them as they do about wearing them," said Brown Shoe President and Chief Operating Officer Diane Sullivan.

Naya's debut collection offers 11 styles of wedges, flat sandals, heels and ballet flats, ranging from $110 to $130.  Shoppers can find Naya footwear on shoes.com, Zappos.com (coming March 15), Piperlime.com and PlanetShoes.com; at select Nordstrom stores and Nordstrom.com, select Dillard's stores and Dillards.com; and in more than 60 independent and specialty stores.  Naya will also be available in 11 countries outside North America, including China, Japan and Australia.

Each Naya shoe starts with a feminine design enhanced by deep, vibrant colors and creative details.  To infuse comfort, Naya designers incorporate soft leathers, breathable leather linings and layers of premium cushioning.  And, because Naya is committed to choosing eco-friendly and natural materials whenever possible, the shoes feature:

• Chrome-free or vegetable-tanned leathers
• Natural, organic or sustainable fabrics
• Sustainable bamboo heels
• Biodegradable latex foam
• Natural cork and rubber footbeds
• Outsoles made with recycled materials
• Nickel-free metal buckles

Naya's commitment to sustainability extends beyond the footwear.  Every pair of Naya shoes arrives in a shoebox made with recycled paper, water-soluble glue and soy-based ink, which includes a reusable shoe bag, recycled content shoe shaping forms and the Naya brand story written inside the lid to avoid using excess paper.  In stores, renewable bamboo displays direct customers to find Naya shoes.

"Because preserving our planet is important to all of us, we strive to make choices that matter while creating beautiful, trend-conscious shoes.  Women will find style touches in our debut line such as leather accented bamboo wedges, floral ornaments, beaded cut-outs, buckles and knotted details, and some of nature's richest shades of green, yellow, red and brown," said Kasey Gibbs, Naya's director of design and product development.

Consumers can visit NayaShoes.com to view the line and find a complete list of retailers, and interact with Naya on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NayaShoes) and Twitter (@NayaShoes.)  The fall 2010 Naya collection, which will include boots, ankle booties and heels, is in the process of being sold into existing and additional retailers, for even greater consumer availability.

About Brown Shoe Company, Inc.

Brown Shoe is a $2.2 billion footwear company with global operations. Brown Shoe's Retail division operates Famous Footwear, the more than 1,100-store chain that sells brand name shoes for the family, approximately 300 specialty retail stores in the U.S., Canada, and China primarily under the Naturalizer brand name, and footwear e-tailer shoes.com. Through its wholesale divisions, Brown Shoe markets leading footwear brands including Naturalizer, Dr. Scholl's, Franco Sarto, LifeStride, Etienne Aigner, Via Spiga, Sam Edelman and Buster Brown. Brown Shoe press releases are available on the Company's Web site at www.brownshoe.com.

SOURCE Brown Shoe Company, Inc.